So many thoughts concerning the above title, where to begin? A quote by our highly esteemed President Abraham Lincoln who fought against slavery in his own capacity might be a good start. It may help because the rest of this blog will be a diatribe about all that is evil in our center of higher education. “Always bear in mind that your resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.”
I want to succeed as a teacher, a student-centered teacher, but the forces of the environment in Almaty, Kazakhstan which surrounds me in a strongly teacher-centered methodology continue to yank me down. Our university motto reads in large letters on the side of one of the buildings on campus “Education to change society.” However, I think the reverse is true since that huge banner was put up in 2005, it should now read “Kazakh society changing western education.” Before I raise the hackles of anyone who is Kazakh who I have probably offended already by things I’ve written in this blog, let me explain why I turned this phrase around. If you read to the “better end,” you might see my point.
Teaching two listening courses on MWF, one begins at 11:00 a.m. (or rather it is supposed to be at 11:00*) and the other at 4:00 p.m. If you are part of the elite nomenclature, then you would have your classes scheduled back to back. For instance, teaching at 11:00 and then 12:00 OR 3:00 and then finishing the second class starting at 4:00. But since I am only a volunteer (and not a slave bound to my desk doing the mandatory office hours between 12:00 and 4:00), I don’t have that privilege of back to back.
*Why do I have my 11:00 a.m. class of 20 students meet at 10:55 and end at 11:45? Glad you asked. Because the scheduling is such where the pre-academic course “Instructor” must occupy the same room I’m in precisely at 11:50 which according to the registrar’s schedule is when I was to end my class. Early in the semester I had this one particular Kazakh teacher loudly declare (totally out of character for a Kazakh) that I was in her classroom and to get out. What a scene she made in front of my 20 students but it was only because she is not confident with setting up the computer. I couldn’t figure out why MY academic listening class had to start 5 minutes earlier for her. Wasn’t it easier to ask her Foundations students to arrive five minutes later? However, she had another class right behind hers that also didn’t allow for changing of the guard. Supposedly, by this ninth week in the semester have all adjusted to this little scheduling snafu.
My second listening class at 4:00 p.m. also had a most inglorious beginning in August. That seems so very long ago now as I write this end of October. (We had our first freeze the night before) This listening class was stuck away in the older building and by necessity, the windows had to be open because it was so hot last weeks of August. That also allowed all the traffic noise to not only drift in but obliterate any kind of listening needed to successfully have real learning happen. Eventually we got a room change to the New Building but not without some persistence.
Okay, back to how Kazakh society is changing our western education. Since this is predominantly an oral culture, I believe the Central Asian students are fairly adept at listening. Or so I thought until yesterday when I asked for their rough drafts for their final papers. Keep in mind that the students according to the course curriculum are required in the past to take TWO listening classes and only ONE writing class. Right there is a big switcheroo of the Kazakh culture adapting western education to fit their own preference. If I told my American colleagues that American students should only be required to take ONE prerequisite writing class and TWO listening courses, my teaching friends would laugh me off the campus. Writing is very, very important to move ahead in a western environment. And you had better cite your sources correctly from where you got your ideas, quotes and paraphrasing. It had better be in your own words too! (There, I didn’t have to use the “P” word, did I?)
So what assignments did I get from my listening students yesterday after talking about this paper for the first 8 weeks of the semester? What did they read of each others rough drafts when I had them peer review? A lot of BLAH, BLAH facts!!! I’m feeling rather defeated, discouraged and NOT successful as a teacher. Okay, so these “pretend” students knew they had to hand something in to me yesterday, or else. To satisfy the deadline, they slapped together stuff they pulled off the Internet and maybe haphazardly cited something from somewhere. Perhaps they even got their Reference Page authors alphabetized correctly in APA format, but will it be interesting for me to read? NO!
I’ve glanced through some papers that look so opaque with facts and no analysis, no follow through with the thesis statement. Obviously these students did not bother to read the articles and sort it out in their mind even though they were given the choice of topic. They were supposed to be passionate about their topic enough to be curious to WANT to read, research, investigate and dig into the sources.
Oh, and that’s another thing. From the very beginning I told these dear students the hot button topics to stay away from when choosing their own topic to write about. They range from A to G for me: abortion, capital punishment, death penalty, GMO and gun control. What did one student hand in yesterday? A paper on the death penalty!!! I can’t figure it out, either there is a lot of “Lights on but nobody home” going on with my 20 students in each class who all seemed to show up for every class OR they can get away with turning in these kind of blah, blah papers with their other Soviet styled, teacher-centered teachers? Either way, as a western-trained, student-centered teacher I don’t like the answer to this either/or question.
I don’t know, I’m flummoxed by all of this. Will I be a slave to getting them to write properly even though this is a listening course? Or will I be a volunteer and just use up a lot of my valuable time and a LOT of red ink in the process to correct these blah, blah papers? How student-centered do I want to be in this strong Kazakh environment that does NOT promote writing? I want these students to have good ppt presentations so I can feel reasonably confident when I ask my foreign friends to be guests to listen to the students 7 minute talks, that it will not be a waste of their time. From the start I asked my students to find good content in the peer-reviewed articles. Perhaps they think they can pretend to slip this over on the teacher. They probably think, “She is so overworked with her 100 students, she won’t notice, right?”
Abraham Lincoln suffered many more defeats than victories, so he knew of what he spoke. His quotes will long be remembered. Even though I am experiencing character assassination which is driven by my Kazakh colleagues and administrators who misunderstand me and do not support my efforts to teach in my preferred style, I will continue to persist.
As I told my office mate one day, “The truth WILL prevail, it will just take a little longer in Kazakhstan.” You can quote me on that!!!
Thanks to my Aussie friend who stepped in to give a lecture to my masters students last night. Kathy Banham (holding the flowers) is the president of AIWC (Almaty International Women’s Club). She knows of what she speaks as a leader but also working with a group of many volunteers from all over the world. I appreciated her consenting to be videotaped. She spoke about her work and leadership experiences from the past that ultimately led her to Almaty, Kazakhstan with her husband’s job, but especially liked hearing her answer my students’ many questions.
Julia Connelly stepped in my “Listening and Note Taking” class to give a lecture about her ongoing fascination with Kazakh carpets. She has a BFA degree in art specializing in Interior Design and when she arrived to Kazakhstan about six years ago she has been researching the mysteries behind this very complex art form.
These photos of Sunday afternoon’s game are the last I’ll show, it is still slow Internet so I will see how long this takes to put these up. I’m starting at 5:20 p.m. my Wednesday evening after we had a GREAT lecture done by Julia Connelly about Kazakh carpets. I will share what she talked about in tomorrow’s blog. 
Our Internet at work is running really slow and yesterday I had put up five photos for my reading audience but only two survived and were saved in a draft form. Unfortunately, I had to start all over again. Such is life in Kazakhstan. 
What fun to be on a soccer field about an hour west of the center of the city of Almaty with the Tien Shan mountains ringing the southern horizon. It was breathtaking to look to the south despite the haze. Also to see our university boys play American football, I had four students dress in the blue and white uniforms. The other team, the Snowcats, had travelled from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for this important game. Our team won 33-12 but the other side put up a noble fight. See the photos I took of the fall day, tomorrow I’ll show more of the team players and people I talked to. For me it was a real social event meeting new people and connecting with old friends.
I’m not used to seeing red roses blooming and trees turning fallish color at the same time. Only in Almaty, Kazakhstan. 
How I love this time of year. As I write this blog entry, the wind is blowing the yellowed leaves to the ground. The street sweepers (Leaf Removal Managers) every morning are gathering these fallen shards of summer glory with a vengeance. Where the piles go, I’m not sure. In other countries where I’ve lived, like in China or the Philippines, these tired, old leaves are burned. I hope for the sake of curbing pollution in Almaty, that there is a ban on cremating the leaves.
Things are looking up at my place of employment in Almaty, Kazakhstan as the fall leaves are falling down. According to the latest newsletter for this month our university president is “looking to improve the quality of language instruction by hiring more highly qualified faculty.” We were at a big meeting of all English teachers who are the Kazakh faculty in the center. It was explained to them by the director that they must have a masters degree in three years in order to meet the requirements of the Ministry of Education. Supposedly they have been teaching English many years with only the equivalent of a bachelors degree. I believe the Kazakh students who are paying a hefty tuition deserve better. But naturally this is a VERY touchy subject!!!
